Nuneaton MP Marcus Jones has reacted with disbelief following a defence from the Leader of Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council about taxpayer subsidised Christmas cards used by Labour Councillors in the town.

The defence, written as part of a weekly column in a local newspaper, came in response to Marcus raising in Parliament the recent Christmas card row engulfing the Town Hall.

The taxpayer subsidised Christmas cards came to light when Conservative Councillors were accidentally sent an email confirming the details to Labour Councillors that they could buy 2,000 cards for just £8.09. The unintended disclosure prompted Conservative Borough Councillors to raise their concerns about the manner in which public money was being used at the Town Hall.

The Council Leader’s response has been met with surprise and disbelief by the town’s MP, after he chose to defend the taxpayer subsidised Christmas cards as ‘merely contact cards which include a seasonal message’.

Marcus has hit back at the weak defence from the Council Leader, who, instead of asking Councillors to pay full price for the cards, has opted to justify the unnecessary expense.

Commenting about the ongoing debate, Marcus said: “The Christmas cards should not have been subsidised by taxpayers; Councillors should pay for their own cards like everyone else has to. The bigger issue at stake here, though, is the principle. Is it right that, at a time when the Council Leader constantly talks of budget cuts and threats to frontline services, he allows Councillors from his own Party to fund political Christmas cards largely at the expense of taxpayers? I would argue that it is simply wrong.

“As for his accusation that these cards were available during my time as Leader of the Council, it is disappointing that the Council Leader is seeking to mislead the public. Whilst business cards were available during my time, and indeed still are, what were not available were subsidised Christmas cards and if they were, I would have moved to make them unavailable at taxpayers’ expense immediately.

“His attempt to call the Christmas cards a ‘contact card with a seasonal message’ to justify the cost is truly unbelievable.

“Of course, I will not be the only one who remembers the ‘super loos’ introduced by the Labour administration, under the same Leader, tying the town into an unaffordable contract which cost local people £18 every time someone wanted to spend a penny.

“That was a shocking waste of taxpayers’ money and it seems that the Leader of the Council has learned absolutely nothing about the principle of spending the public’s money wisely.”